Last Night In Basebrawl: Boston Red Sox Vs. Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles have long been a glorified punching bag to their AL East rivals, routinely getting their asses handed to them by teams like the Yankees and Red Sox. Some of that frustration boiled over last night in a benches clearing brawl with the Red Sox, one that saw iconic slugger David Ortiz charge the mound and throw wayward punches at Orioles relief pitcher Kevin Gregg.

Fights happen in sports all the time, but what made this particular altercation so enticing were words spoken post-game. Shedding light on an elephant that has been in the room for quite some time, Gregg remarked “we’re not scared of them — them and their $180 million payroll.”

This hit particularly close to home for me, being a fan of a small-market team like the Orioles (I’m an Indians fan) is an exercise in frustration. The disparity between the haves and have-nots in baseball is nearly insulting. Professional baseball operates under a flawed, broken system, one that allows the Yankees and Red Sox of the world to buy any talent they want with no repercussions.

Gregg seems fully aware of the competitive disadvantages, and chose to address the situation head-on. The more the Red Sox parade around the country like the world wants them to win, which they so blatantly do, the more we need people like Gregg to call them out. It might not make a difference in the standings, but both the team and their insufferable fan base need to be told to “shut the hell up.”

except…baseball, by nature, is the one of the major sports where mid-market teams routinely make the championship series. yeah, big payrolls give you an advantage, but it’s really a matter of who’s hot in October.

The Giants, the Rays, the Rockies, the Cards and the Tigers have all been represented over the past 5 years. And for all the bitching about how bloated payrolls can get you to the promised land, what about the Dodgers and the Mets? Holy shit, if I was a Mets fan, I’d be scraping my eyes out with a rusty spoon right now. Especially since they’re all living under the assumption that Jose Reyes is leaving at the end of the season.

So yeah, hate on the Yanks and Sox because they win. It’s not just cuz of the big payroll though…their front offices know what they’re doing.

nah, Gregg tried to knock Ortiz out with his first punch. His arms were just a bit too short.

By: fuzzy dunlop

07.09.2011 @ 12:52 PM

Wow, that was weak as shit.

By: Manny

07.09.2011 @ 1:17 PM

I hated Gregg when he was a part of the Cubs bullpen, but what he did was pretty ballsy. I don’t know why more pitchers haven’t done what Gregg did, Ortiz has been doing that same stupid pose for years. It wasn’t even a HR. Just take your base big boy.

By: MascaritaSagrada

07.09.2011 @ 1:25 PM

Not a single punch reach their target. FAIL

By: EzPz

07.09.2011 @ 3:15 PM

I’d rather see Felix Hernandez v.s. Derek Jeter for some reason

By: Tto

07.09.2011 @ 3:22 PM

for a team whose pitching staff routinely utilizes the brushback (and the outright intentional hbp) the Red Sox are some sensitive fuckin guys when they’re the ones who are getting thrown at. they’ve always been that way, crying and threatening and posing whenever a ball is thrown anywhere near them. Beckett’s postgame comments ring hollow too, when he’s one of the main guys who intentionally tosses pitches into opposing batters.

as for the “fight” itself….weak.

By: yaboy

07.09.2011 @ 3:44 PM

honestly you can’t blame the Red Sox for developing a LOYAL fanbase that was willing to support them for so long. They made that money by having history and dedicated working class people attend and sell out every home game. If you gotta problem with that, blame capitalism.

I feel for small market teams that can’t keep up, but you can win with good management and scouting, something that a consistently shitty team like the orioles know nothing about. It’s all about your front office in Baseball, not the money.

Some of the best player on the Sox aren’t the one getting the 50 million dollar contracts, so you can miss me with that Have and Have-Not bullshit.

Major League Baseball is about a farm system with talent, scouting out developing players, and how much your city is willing to back you. Don’t blame the good teams for how good they are at their jobs.

and with that being said, I’m done ranting to my TSS family, one.

By: Phonetic

07.09.2011 @ 4:42 PM

Red Sox fans are even worse than Yankee fans… they are hardcore… and they are even more frontrunners. I was in boston earlier this week and there were ppl who were in boston the first time of their lives (i was at orientation for my university) and they were “Red Sox fans” wtf?!? seriously thats so frontrunner I cant even tolerate it. I hate frontrunners because I am surrounded by them. I live in NY where people who’ve only seen 3 baseball games in their lives proclaim to be yankee fans… seriously you are not a fan stfu! u cant even name another player besides Jeter and A Rod. Im a met fan and i can name the majority of the yankee players. anyway i will gladley be displaying my Bill Buckner T-shit when i go to games in the fall ([www.youtube.com])

By: Biggga Aka Ray for 3

07.09.2011 @ 7:09 PM

Gregg’s punch missed the target like his pitches miss the strike zone

Ortiz should be ashamed of himself; he fights like a slow girl

By: AJ

07.09.2011 @ 7:17 PM

it’s just as bad when a girl does it. i kick it with a few females who proclaim their love for the sox and did the same when the bruins were in the stanley cup. i swear one of them would ask me someone’s name then instantly make a facebook status about it just with the hope of getting guys to interact with them/make them think they know sports. puttin up this whole front like they care about the game yet on the phone the whole time. i wanted to sock that bitch. i do not enjoy watching sports with fake fans… or girls

======

lmao

By: DC

07.09.2011 @ 8:40 PM

@Phonetic

are you sure you want to wear the buckner shirt? it looks like you’ve got much more pressing matters to deal with. perhaps you should wear this shirt?

The awkward thing about Gregg’s and Showalter’s argument is what yaboy was talking about above…the players that are beating the O’s aren’t John Lackey (I mean, yeah, he did last night, but he just as easily could have blown it), Carl Crawford, JD Drew or Dice-K. It’s not the money that they complain about that is beating them.

It’s Ellsbury, Lester, Buchholz, Papelbon, Youkilis, Pedroia…it’s drafting and development that’s beating them. It’s Reddick playing like a natural fit. It’s Daniel Bard.The money is easiest to complain about, because it gives you an excuse and a simple rallying point for fans to grumble about, but that’s not why they’re losing.

By: AJ

07.10.2011 @ 12:23 PM

^^ all good points, but I reserve the right to be a bitter fan of a small-market team. that’s first in the AL central, WHAT.

side-note: i want to see brian wilson fight somebody.

By: Patrick M.

07.12.2011 @ 6:02 PM

We are the best. Ortiz faked the punch cause he didnt want to get suspended.

The Orioles once had the highest payroll in the league or close to it, but they consistently make terrible free agent moves (Vlad Guerrero) and cannot turn out any positional players despite the fact they’ve been terrible for a decade.

AJ as an Indians fan you aren’t exactly competing with the Sox or Yankees, in fact its the Twins who have been spanking your ass the most recently. Well except for ’07 I guess.

And as a Red Sox fan I promise you we will not shut up or cease to be annoying.